Chapter 3: Fancy Begging

"Smells so good." A soft, childish yet somewhat weak voice called Fang Xiu back to consciousness.

Fang Xiu turned to look; the little girl had woken up, and he heard the gurgling from her stomach.

"Hungry, right? Miss Zhao gave us some food today, I cooked it into porridge. A Ku drank it and got better."

By now the mixed-vegetable porridge in the earthenware jar had come to a boil, several unidentifiable scraps mixed together; to Fang Xiu, these were all slop for pigs from his previous life.

As the water temperature rose, an indescribable smell permeated the ruined house, very complex; to Fang Xiu's current sense of smell it was practically torture, but the little girl smelled it and drooled.

"Brother Fang, you eat first. A Ku can't go out today. Eat your fill so you have strength to beg for food."

"Brother already gnawed a steamed cake earlier. These are all saved for A Ku. A Ku must eat to get better, then she can go out with Brother to beg for food."

A Ku was very sensible and said no more. Fang Xiu poured the mixed-vegetable porridge from the earthenware jar into a bowl, placed it before A Ku, and watched her gulp it down. A Ku ate happily, smiling and shaking her head.

In this world, there are always kind people; it's just a pity that kind people are the ones suffering. What can be done?

After A Ku had eaten all the mixed-vegetable porridge, her deathly pale face finally had a little color. She said a few words to Fang Xiu, then fell into a deep sleep.

Looking at the sky outside, it was almost noon. Fang Xiu leaned on his wooden stick and forced himself to stand, holding a broken bowl in his other hand. He first used his keen hearing to sense if anything was amiss around him, then limped away from the ruined house.

That bit of food from the morning wasn't enough for three people's daily rations. Fang Xiu had already planned his work; noon was the key node to complete his KPI.

The Song Dynasty had developed maritime trade, and Gushan County, bordering the sea, grew ever more prosperous. The common folk were fairly well-off. The liveliest place was the Fang Market at the center of the county seat.

The Fang Market was full of restaurants, teahouses, and food shops, as well as general stores, wine shops, and merchant firms.

Fang Xiu had long decided on his first stop today: Hongyun Restaurant. It was now packed with guests, wine cups clinking.

Fang Xiu stopped three chi from the restaurant entrance, sensibly not daring to cross the threshold. He first bowed deeply, then held the bowl in his left hand and a small wooden stick in his right, beating a rhythm. Once he had attracted the attention of the restaurant guests, he began to sing Chuibao.

"Lift your legs, come to the street. One street, two alleys, good business. There's buying and selling, and there are signs and banners."

"Banners like dragons playing in water, counters like purple-gold platforms. Abacus clicks like a money tree. I wish the shopkeeper great wealth."

"Great shopkeeper, don't be afraid. Poor folk sharing your light is no big deal. Big restaurant, gold signboard, the great shopkeeper made a fortune. You make a fortune, I share your light. You eat meat, I drink soup."

"One bow to a gentleman, two bows to a minister, three bows to the great shopkeeper's generosity. If a man isn't generous, I won't bow. Flowers don't welcome spring, flowers don't bloom. Whether you give or not doesn't matter..."

After finishing the short piece, Fang Xiu bowed deeply again and said, "Shopkeeper, please be kind and give us a few bites to eat. I, the young one, wish your business prosperous across the four seas, wealth flowing from the three rivers. Here I bow to you."

Chuibao originated in the Ming Dynasty. In the Southern Song, beggars at most said a few auspicious words when begging; no one had played this kind of trick yet.

In his twenties, Fang Xiu had been a pseudo-literary youth, especially fond of the Beijing opera play "Teahouse." After watching it countless times, he could recite the dialogue offhand. The piece just now was the classic lines sung by the beggar begging for food in Teahouse.

Fang Xiu sang it in his still-unchanged child's voice, adding the tone he learned from some storytelling troupe. It was very pleasant and immediately drew everyone's gaze in the restaurant.

"Where did this beggar come from, making a racket here?" The waiter came out to chase him away, but was stopped by the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper sized up Fang Xiu and said with interest, "Good kid, you speak smoothly. I'm happy listening. You'll definitely get something good. If you do a few more pieces, I'll reward you with several copper coins."

Fang Xiu didn't waste words. He bowed respectfully, beat the rhythm again, and said to the shopkeeper:

"Shopkeeper, I, the young one, wish you:"

"Auspicious hour, auspicious month, auspiciousness like wind. Bountiful year, bountiful month, bountifulness increases like wind."

"Increase blessings, increase wealth, increase longevity. Longevity mountain, longevity water, longevity long life."

"Generate wealth, generate riches, generate noble sons. Sons filial, grandchildren worthy, generation after generation honored."

"Honor and wealth year after year. Have money, have power, have prospects."

As soon as he finished speaking, the people in the restaurant cheered. The restaurant shopkeeper smiled as if flowers had bloomed. These lines were truly auspicious.

The shopkeeper told the waiter to get several steamed buns and half a bowl of salted fish, then sized up Fang Xiu again, especially his broken left leg. He then took out ten more copper coins from his sleeve.

"I see you speak like someone who's read a few books, yet you've met with misfortune. Truly a pity."

"I keep my word. This food and these copper coins are yours today."

"If you want to beg for food in the future, come to my place. No need to curry favor with me. Just serve the guests here. As long as you can make them happy, I'll cover your noon meals."

Fang Xiu was very happy with the food he had begged. This was finding a rice bowl—almost like being a storyteller in the restaurant. Later he could tell a few stories here: Jin Ping Mei, Yu Pudian, and such. He had far too much he could talk about.

Or after A Ku recovered, he could teach her to be a straight man on the kang, at least so he wouldn't have to worry about food before his leg injury healed.

And these ten copper coins. Every time A Ku passed by here and saw the big meat buns next door, she drooled. Ten copper coins could buy five buns.

A Ku two, himself two, and the remaining one was a bargain for Mo Laodao. Since transmigrating, he finally had a meal that wasn't slop.

Next, Fang Xiu sang Chuibao at several more shops, even did a piece of Tanqingshuihe. More or less he gained something. At least he had earned today's rations.

After walking around the Fang Market, Fang Xiu's leg started hurting again. He found a wall corner to sit, gnawing on a steamed bun while daydreaming about A Ku's smile when she saw the meat buns.

In a daze, he suddenly heard someone speaking through the wall.

"Brothers from the neighboring county's branch brought news that Chief Hong has recently appeared around here. Tell all brothers to be careful. Stop all our usual rackets. If word leaks, we'll all die."

"What about Qingyu Guan? The goods are needed urgently, and they pay a lot too."

"I reckon Chief Hong won't come that fast. Just these few days. Get the goods ready and send them over, then stop immediately."

Hearing these two men's conversation, Fang Xiu suddenly sat up, eyes narrowing, fully on guard.

In this world where martial might was supreme, even unintentionally overhearing others' conversation—and clearly the other side was up to something—could bring deadly disaster.

The voices were very clear, as if separated from Fang Xiu by a completely non-soundproof wooden wall. But Fang Xiu knew the speakers were at least seventy or eighty meters away, with at least two or three streets between them. As long as Fang Xiu didn't court death, they would absolutely never know of his existence.

Fortunately, after finishing their talk about delivering goods to Qingyu Guan, they discussed sending subordinates to investigate Chief Hong's movements, then split up and left, without passing the street corner where Fang Xiu was.

Originally the begged food was cornbread, but last night I suddenly woke up. It seems the cornbread I've seen is all cornmeal, and corn was only introduced in the Ming Dynasty. After checking Baidu, I found other flours can be used, but it takes some tech-savvy workarounds.

So to be more rigorous, before releasing this morning I changed cornbread to steamed cake. At least Wu Dalang serves as a witness that the Song Dynasty really had steamed cakes.

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(Chapter End)